


Praying in the Streets

by HolleringHawk65



Series: The Batman They Got [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Jason Todd's mom dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 10:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8159531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolleringHawk65/pseuds/HolleringHawk65
Summary: Set pre Batman!Jason, Dick Grayson and Bucky Barnes both develop attachments to the Jason that was there before him.





	

Jason Todd was seven and a half years old when the circus tent goes up in flames, taking his father with it.

He ran out of the tent at the first sign of fire, everything in his brain telling him to _run run run_ , and ran straight into the arms of a stranger. The stranger held him close and the two cried together.

Dick Grayson cried because of a circus going up in flames. He didn’t even know anyone in it, but it was just the thought; the thought of the elephants screaming, of tigers knocking against their cages to get out, of people being trapped by falling beams. He wept.

Jason Todd cried because he was just that much freer. His father couldn’t touch him, couldn’t hurt his mom; he was safe. His tears were tears of joy.

Eventually, Dick was able to drive Jason back to his home in Crime Alley. He told Mrs. Todd about the death of her husband, but she was unfazed.

After seeing where he lived and what his mother was like, Dick decided to stop by frequently. He brought food, bottled water, clothes, and new blankets. He took Jason to the library, introduced him to Barbara.

Life was good.

\---

Jason Todd was almost nine years old when he met Bucky Barnes.

Just the year before, the world had almost ended just a few miles away in New York City. A month before, Washington had been torn apart by the very department that was supposed to protect them all.

Bucky found himself breaking into a home in Gotham. There was a woman passed out on the couch, a boy curled up in a chair, asleep, with a book on his lap, a blanket wrapped around him, and the light on and shining on his golden hair. He looked a little bit like Steve, a mini version of him really, except not as sickly as he had been at the age.

Bucky sat down, crisscrossed, in front of Jason. Eventually, the kid stretched out, rubbed his eyes, and then opened them. He didn’t look that surprised. He didn’t look scared.

“You hungry?” he asked instead of screaming out. “I got some eggs and stale bread.”

Bucky didn’t say anything for a moment as he realized he was hungry and thirsty too. “Okay,” is all he could manage.

The kid got up, bypassing Bucky and heading to the tiny kitchen. He worked silently, a godsend for Bucky. There was no incessant questions, no asking for him to remember a different life, no commands to kill.

The kid sets a plate down in front of Bucky. There was two pieces of toast, a fried egg, and a few slices of apple. A moment later, he put two glasses of orange juice and a half full bottle of ketchup down before he joined him.

“I was saving the apple for the end of the week,” the kid started to say as he arranged his toast and egg into a sandwich, “but, hospitality and all, ya know? My mom would've probably eaten it, anyway.”

The kid looked at him, waiting for a response. Bucky nodded, not sure what else to do.

“I’m Jay, in case you were wondering. You probably weren’t though.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, I’m kinda assuming that you’re gonna kill me soon so.”

“I’m not.”

The kid shrugged as he took a bite of his sandwich. “Wouldn’t blame you.”

Bucky didn’t know how to answer that. “I’m Bucky.”

The kid tilts his head, squinting in the dim light of the kitchen. “Like Bucky Barnes?”

Bucky suddenly found the glass of orange juice to be fascinating.

“I’m not judging or anything. If Cap was frozen for seventy years or whatever, I don't wanna think about why you look so young.” The kid finally looked at his arm; the metal band was exposed, but he was wearing long sleeves. “Do you need oil for that or anything?”

Bucky shook his head. “Thank you for breakfast.”

He stretched out and then laughed. “It’s midnight, Bucky.”

\---

Bucky stayed with Jason for a while. The days melted together, with hiding from his mom, helping him around the house, and then finally meeting Dick Grayson (Jason would talk about him like he was a god).

Jay and Bucky were returning from an ice cream parlor when the police cars passed by them. The kid was slightly concerned that Bucky would be spotted by police and recognized, but then again, this was Gotham, and it seemed like most of the cops half assed everything.

It got worse when they saw that the police and paramedics going _into_ Jason’s home. He whipped around, turning to Bucky. “They can’t see you, you have to _go_.”

“Jay, I don’t feel right, if something’s happened with your mom-”

He shook his head. “I don’t want you to get arrested. Um.” He swallowed as he gripped Bucky’s shirt. “Please don’t leave Gotham yet.” He hugged him and got surprised when Bucky hugged him back.

“I won’t.”

\---

Dick had found Jason’s mom, unconscious and unresponsive, when he had come with groceries and to take Jason out for the day. Jason felt more hollow with her death than he had with his father’s.

A social services worker had come to pick up Jason and he wanted to scream and go find Bucky because everything had been okay when he was with him. Instead, Dick revealed that he was already going through the motions to become a foster parent so that he could get custody of Jason. It was also the first time that Jason heard him say “ _Bruce Wayne_ ” to get what he wanted.

“I don’t want to leave,” Jason said, hours later when everyone was gone and it was just the two of them. Dick had helped him put all of his belongings into a suitcase. “I’ve only ever lived here.”

“My apartment is right by a park,” Dick said. “You can start to go to school again in the fall; we can get you caught up, though I know you’ll do fine.”

“How many bedrooms does it have?” He couldn’t just leave Bucky hanging.

“There’s two, why?”

_Hopefully they’ll be big._

\---

Jason took one look around the apartment and took a deep breath. “There’s no room for Bucky.”

“Bucky?”

“Um. He’s this, guy, who’s being staying with me for the past few weeks.”

“One of your mom’s friends?”

“No, he’s my friend. He’s been helping me around the house, he’s bought groceries, and we were at the ice cream parlor before…”

Dick squeezed his arm, thinking that Bucky was just a few years older than Jason, not decades older than himself.

He’d find out soon enough.

\---

Dick wasn’t that good in the kitchen, so they were just making macaroni and cheese from the box when the doorbell rang.

There’d been no sign of Bucky all day, so Jason just stayed put at the oven, dejected. Dick ruffled his hair, hoping that it would get him to smile even the tiniest bit, before heading to the door.

He swung it open, expecting maybe Babs coming to talk to Jason or a surprise drop in from Wally, but there was a stranger in the door. “I’m Bucky,” the _man_ said.

Dick yanked him inside the apartment. “You’re _Bucky Barnes_ , an assassin,” he hissed. _He_ kept up with the news so that he’d have something to talk about with Alfred. “You’re an international criminal.”

Bucky was looking down at Dick’s normal hand wrapped around his robotic arm when Jason came into the living room. He ran over to him, practically jumping up on him. His arms were around Bucky’s neck and Bucky’s normal arm was wrapped around his waist.

Dick let Bucky go; he put both arms around Jason.

“My mom’s dead,” he told Bucky. He was set down on the ground but he stayed next to Bucky as he started to cry.

Bucky had lost everyone he cared about after the fall from the train and he still didn’t even remember everyone. He knew how it was to have almost lost Steve in Washington, so he kinda got it. Enough to guide them over to the couch and let Jason cry on him.


End file.
